Rotary explosive-engine.



E. 0. HOELL. BOTABY EXPLOSIVE ENGINE. APP-LIOATIOI nun 3.12.1000.

903,470. Patented Nov. 10, 1908;

4 SHEETS-BEBE! 1.

B. 0., HOELL.

ROTARY EXPLOSIVE- ENGINE. I APPLICATION II/LED IBB.12. 1906.

Patented Nov. 10,190&

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W x E 5-5 V Er CIJEK ZZ' div-aid 0 -//oeza Qfflwr B. 0. HOELL. noun EXPLOSIVE memn. LPPLIOATIOI FILED PER. 12. 1 906.

903,470. Patented Nov.10,190s.

4 SHEETS-SHEET A.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD O. IIOELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO ATLANTIC 'lOOL & MACHINE CO..

A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

ROTARY EXPLOSIVE-ENGINE.

Specification Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 10,1908.

Application filed February i2, 1906. Serial No. 800,611.

ToaZl whom it may concern: Be it known that l, Enwaao O. Henna, a

citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of thieago, in the county 0 Cook and State of Illinois, have invented ertain new and useful .l lnprovements iii-Rotary Explosivo-IInginos; and Iv do hereby declare that the following .is a full, dear, and exact description of the same. reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letter-sol" reference marked thereon, which.

form a part of this specification.

frequent repairs.

This nvention relates to im n'oven' ents in rotary explosive engines and more particularly to an explosive eng ne 1n which the tendency to wear is reduced to a minimum.

Heretofore engines of this class have usually been provided with'morc or less complicated valve mechanisms having many movable parts. requiring constant. care and Furthermore in engines inwhich a rotary piston or drivin r element has been employed the explosion :ibutments have been carried on the walls of the cylining one of t doc or casing and past which the-p|ston heads must Jass. 'lhls has necessitated makhe parts movable in order that it. may be retracted while passing or bein passed by the other. The rapidity witi which suchparts must operate causes great a wear and consequent loss of power.

tying the const ruction.

lt is also an object "of the invention to pro ride an engine of such simple construction that the wear and consequent loss of power is reduced to n-inininuun.

The invention consist); in the matters hereinaft er described "and more fully pointed out 'luthe drawings slflgure 1 iso side elevation M3,. device embodying my invention.

Figgtl'is' miside elevation ofthe opposite'side-L 0f the-eii'gineQw-ith, 5 I

., part "of the .casing re- :Inoved. Fig.3 is aview' partlyin plan and y g ea tly simpli- I feather c and partly in horizontal section. -Fig. 4 is a section taken on line. 4-4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a section taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 1. Fig. (l a perspective view .of one of the piston elements. Fig. 7 is a. side elevation of the same. Figc" 8 is a longitudinal section thereof. a

As shown in said drawings: the inven- -tion is. embodied in a compound rotary engine though obviously it is equally adaptable for use in a single unit and as shown comprises a casting or frame A of any pre ferred construction but. which may conveniently be a casting, cored to'provide the cylinders A and A and a water jacket A which extemlsthrough said casing and about and between the cylinders for the circulation of the cooling fluid.

ltigid ly engaged on the ends of said cyls' ind'ers and ground to afl'orda true jOlIlt. therewith are the cylinder heads A--A which are also cored as shown more clearly in Figs. and-5, and connnunicate with'and fol-p1 part of the water chamber or jacket. A of the casing thereby affording a complete and tree circulation of coolii fluid to all parts of the engine subject to ieat. Airinlet and an outlet pipe u and u for the cool-' ing fluid are mnnected in said jacket and \vit'lrany suitable supply and discharge and al'lord means for mamtammg a circulation about the cylinders.

The cylinder head A" as shown covers both of said cylinders and is provided with an outwardly directed peripheral flange (F on which is rigidly engaged by bolting or in any preferred manner a head a atfording a closed gear casing or chamber .Tournaled iusnita'ble bearings 11-1) in the vlindcr heads 1V and headu -respectively --ll wluch extcnd axially of are the shafts It the cylinders and the ends of which b'-' as shown are reduced in diameter toprovide shoulders to take thelaterid thrust.

(an-ted on each of said shafts B and# rotative within its evliuder are" the pistons C and C of which the iston C is'rigidly eng'agcd upim the shaft )y means of a spline or the piston C is rotative on said shaft. and is rovided with a tubular shaft or sleeve 0' m which said shaft B is 'ournaledand which extendsthrou h the mad A". Saidpistons C and C, which. are

duplicate in all respects with the exception that the-piston C is provided with the tubular shaft 0' as before described, comprise as shown more clearl in Figs. 4, 5, and 6 a central hub of a width approximatelly equal to one half of the widt of t he hy inder and fitting closely at one end against the cylinder head and at the other against the hub of the adjacent piston. Formed integrally on each hub and at diametrically opposite points thcreomare the heads which serve both as piston heads and explosion;

abutments dcpendentu onthe position of the piston at the time 0 the exp osion, that is to say, whether the particular head is immediately in advance of or at the rear of the point of ignition of the charge. Said heads are indicated on the piston C as c and a and on the piston Q as c and 0 and as shown are se ment shaped and have their peripheries in c eral wall of the cylinder. The length of said heads is such that they extend entirely across the cylinders thereby overlapping the hub of the adjacent piston and their width is such that when the pistons are assembled upon the shaft-B there is provided between adjacent heads, chambers which serve both as compression and explosion and expansion chambers dependent upon the position of the pistons with respect to their rotation.

Said pistons as shown more clearly in Figs.-' .7 and. 8 are provided with acking strips 0" of any desired material which are seated in the wearing surfaces which contact with the walls of the cylinders and with the hubs'0 As shown sprlngs c are seated in recesses in said pistons and bear against .the packing strips and act to force said strips outwardly and form fluid tight joints with the cylinder. Similar spring pressed packing stri s c are seated in the inner faces of the hu s 0 eccentric with the shaft B and act to prevent ]the passage of pressure fluid between said rubs.

For the purpose of supplying the explosive fluid to said cylinders the casing as shown is cored to provide an inlet chamber or passage D for each cylinder which 'opens- The lower ends through the casing at thetop and is closed with a cap (I rigidly engaged thereon and provided with a screw threaded aperture in which is connected the supply pipe D leading from any suitable source of supply. of said passages o en through suitable ports d into the eylin ers and supply the explosive fluid to the chamber formed between the heads.

Exhaust the cylinders into exhaust chambers E from whence the exhaust .pipes E lcad., As shown each cylinder is tapped through, its peripheral wall at apoint where the charge has reached its maximum compression and an igniter F of any preferred construction is inserted therein to ignite the charge.

Rigidly engaged on the reduced end 6 of gear casing A" ose contact with the periphports e open from the bottom of ment head 0 each shaft B and on thetubular shaft 0 of the pistons (7' respectively are the elliptical gears G and G which as shown more clearly in Figs. 2, .3 and 5 are so positioned. relatively to each other thatat the time of ignition of the charge their longer axes are at approximately right angles to each other. Journaled in suitable hearings and centrally between the shafts B in the heads a and A is the drive shaft H on "which,within'the are rigidly engaged elliptical gears lL/i' identical with the. gears G and G and adapted to interniesh therewith. Said "ea-rs h. and h are arranged onthe shaft with their corresponding axesat right angles to eachother and are so positioned relatively to the gears G and G that at the time of explosion the one which is receiving the,driving-force ofthe piston head will have itslonger axis in alinement with the shorter axis of the gear with which it inter-meshes and the other will have its shorter axis in alincment with the longer axis of its intel'in'ieshing gear which is connected with the head forming the abutment. Inasmuch as the force of theexplosion acts equally upon the adjacent heads it is obvious that since at the time of the explosion the gear connected with the head forming the piston head is presenting-"its shorter axis to its intermeshing. gear, the leverage of said piston head is greater than the leverage of the explosion abutment and consequently. drives the shaft H against the force exerted on'said abutment.

The outer end oi the shaft H is provided with a drivewheel H." by means of which the power generated in the engine is util- The operation is as follows: Inasmuch as the piston C is rigidly engaged, on the shaft B and the piston C is rotativc thereon it is evident that the Y are capable of in dependent rotation to a certain extent. As shown more clearlyjn Fig. 4 the pistons are-at cxplo sion' point and the chamber afforded bctween the heads and 0" has just received its charge of gas through the port (l which is now closed by the head 2*. The charge in the chamber between the heads 0" and c has been compressed and as it now ignites the force acts equally upon the head 0 which now serves as the explosion abutment and upon the head 0 which serves as the piston head. The force tends to move said heads oppositely but owing to the fact that the gear G which is connected with the piston head nis, at the time of the explosion, presenting its shortest axis to the longer axis of the gear 7b on thedrive shaft andthe which connected with the abut is presenting its longer axis to the gear h greater power is produced by the gear G than the gear G because of-the dif ference in leverage produced. in said gears thereby driving the shaft B through the ear h and causing the gear h to move the iiead c forwardly at less speed than the head'c. This movement causes'the head a to approach the head a" compressing the charge therebetween which is ignited as it passes the igniter, repeating the operation with the head now acting'as the piston head and the head a, nsfthe explosion abutment. The roducts of, combustion are carried forwardly between the heads until the I exhaust ports a are reached and are then dischargixl into the chamber I) and through the exhaust pipe E. I

Obviously an engine constructed in ac cordance with my invention iscapable of high efliciency because of the number of i1npacts given at each revolution of the piston and the efliciency may be'varied by varying the ratio of the diameters of the gears.

While I have shown my en ine as a water cooled engine it is obvious t at it may be cooled by any other preferred method and obviousl it may be constructed as a single engine/if preferred without departing from the principles of my invention and while I have described my invention as embodied in v a rotary engine it is obvious that the device is equally ada table for use as a; rotary pinup if (lesiref.

I claim as in |nvcnt1on: a t. In an exp oslve engine the combination with a. cylinder of an Inlet and an exhaustchamber adjacent thereto, having ports conununlcatin therewith, a shaft ournaled. Ill said cylln er, a piston rigldl cngagcd thereto, a second piston insaid cy ind-ergand rotatable 'on said shaft and provided with a forwardl directed shaft concentric therewith, an elliptical .arsnigidl cnga cd to each shaft, a drive s iaft and e liptica gears then-on int-cr neshing with the elliptical gcars on the piston shafts. r

2. In an explosive engine the combiiuition with a cylinder of an exhaust and an inlet chamber rigidly engaged thereto, )orts opening from t ie inlet and exhanst cluuubcrs into the cylinder, a shaft journalcd in the cylinder, pistons in said cylinder, onc rigidly engaged to said shaft, and one rotatablo thereon, a shaft rigidly engaged to the last named iston, a drive shaft journalcd in the casing and intermeshin ellip- 'tlcnl gears on said driving shaft llJlt piston shafts having their corresponding axles at. right angles thereby drivin one piston at a greater rah-hf speed than t 1c other.

3. In a device of the class tlt'Hfll'lllOtl the combination with a cylinder, a casing centric with the first named shaft and extending into said casing, a gear rigidly engaged on each shaft in said casing, a shaft journaled in the. casing and gears thereon inter-meshing with the wars on said piston shafts and adapted to d i'ivc one piston'at a greater rate ahead than the other.

4. Inan explosive engine the combination with a lurality of cylinders of a casing engaged t iereto, a shaft journaled in-cach cylinder and casing, a piston-keyed to one shaft, :1. piston rotatable on the shaft, a forwardly direi-ftcd shaft engaged on said independently revoluble piston and extending into the casing, a driving shaft journalcd in the casing intermediate said piston shafts and ncans connecting each piston shaft and driving shaft adapted to drive said pistons at varying rates.

5. In an engine a plurality of cylinders, each having an "inlet passage cored on one side thereof and ported through a wall'of the cylilulcr ofan exhaust casing below each cylinder, exhaust ports opening thcrc'into, a casing-integral with one of the cylinder heads, shafts journalcd in the cylinders and extending through said casing, a plurality of pistons on each shaft in the cylinders, one rigidly secured on each shaft and one independently rotatable on each shaft, a shaft integral with each independently ro tatable piston also extending into said integral casing, elliptical gears on the shafts in the integral casing arranged at right angles to 'each other, a driving shaft arraned intermediate the cylinders and elliptical gears thereon arranged at right angles and meshing with the elliptical gears on the shafts in both cylinders. i

6. In a device of the class described the colnbiimtion with a plurality of cylinders provided with inlet and exhaust ports of a gear casing rigidly secured to one side of the cylilulcrs, comrntric shafts in each cylipdcrtxlcnding through the gear casing and imlcpcmlcntly rotatable, intcrfitting pistons, one rigidly secured to each shaft, elliptical gears on the shafts in the gear casing. those on corresponding shafts havin their axes parallel and at rightangles wit the axes of the gears on the othcr shaft. a drive shaft lmtwccn the piston shafts haying a plurality of clli )l-ll'lll gears thereonfeach meshing with a I the gears on wrrespondingpiston shafts and having their axes atright angles with the gcarswith which meshing.

7. ln adevice of the class described the combination with a cash of a cylinder En '|nunicating therewith, independently mewable pistons in each cylinder coutrollin said gagcd to the side therro one at each end,

ports, concentric shafts engaged to sni pistons and extending into the casing, a driving shaft in said casing and intermeshing elliptical gears on said piston shafts and driving shafts having their corresponding 5 axles at right angles adapted to drive one piston faster than the other dependent upon the posit-ion thereof.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto s'ubscribed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EDWARD O. HOELL. Witnesses: C. W. HILLs,

W. W. W-ITHENBURY. 

